Graduates Honored at 199th Commencement

On a picture-perfect spring day, Jefferson honored hundreds of members of the Class of 2023 at the first round of its 199th Commencement exercises.

“I’ve seen the impact the University has had locally, nationally and globally,” Jefferson CEO Dr. Joseph Cacchione told graduates. “Jefferson has empowered you to discover, to build, to heal, to create and to do things differently—indeed, to redefine possible.

Over two ceremonies at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on May 11, Jefferson recognized undergraduates from all colleges along with graduate students from the Colleges of Architecture and the Built Environment, Health Professions, Nursing and Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce. The University will hold ceremonies at the Kimmel Center on May 23 for the Colleges of Pharmacy, Population Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and on May 24 for Sidney Kimmel Medical College and graduate students in the College of Life Sciences.

University President Dr. Mark Tykocinski congratulated the Class of 2023 for reaching this milestone. He stressed they have the professional knowledge and personal skills necessary to surf the coming waves of innovative change.

“By virtue of your professional education, you will be called upon to lead, collaborate and reimagine what’s possible,” Dr. Tykocinski says. “Your community, your nation, your world will rely on you to step forward, to help lead society in finding the best ways to use powerful new innovations for the good of humanity.”

With loved ones cheering on (and occasionally blasting an air horn and ringing a cowbell), students walked across the Commencement stage and heard words of encouragement from faculty, classmates, University leadership and industry leaders.

Student body president Taylor Matulis urged the Class of 2023 to take the big risks and make the hard choices to help promote confidence and growth.

“Allow yourself to step out of your comfort zone,” says the law and society graduate. “Move across the country. Apply for that job. Spend time exploring your surroundings and expanding your knowledge of different lifestyles and communities. Allow yourself to embark on yet another learning experience.”

In his remarks, honorary degree recipient Skylar Tibbits shared how Jefferson’s emphasis on the melding of design and science makes the University stand out and gives grads an edge.

“I believe this type of blending will become the future of almost every discipline,” says Tibbits, a Class of 2007 alumnus and founder/co-director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology self-assembly lab. “You’re extremely well-positioned. You’re sitting at the forefront of a radical change in disciplines and breakthroughs in the coming decades only made possible by blending the creative and the technical.”

Fellow honorary degree recipient Dr. Ernest Grant, immediate past president of the American Nurses Association, challenged nursing graduates to embrace the power of nursing and “the power of you.”

“Simply by answering the call of nursing, you have that very same spark within you that Florence Nightingale had,” he says. “It allows us to deliver compassionate care to the afflicted, but there’s more to it than that. If we allow it, that spark can also serve as a force for the good in the world—a catalyst for changing lives and lighting the way to a safe, healthier and more just society.”

Following, College of Nursing Dean Dr. Marie Marino asked new grads to be selfless in their service, the colleague others seek out and the team member who goes further, endures longer and looks closer at how they can contribute.

“This is your moment,” she says.

Visit here to watch the Commencement replays and see more photos from the ceremonies below.